Interesting and touching posts from everyone. Thanks.
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My 83 year old ex-Marine Korean War veteran dad always says growing old ain't for wimps. He has battled kidney cancer, prostate cancer, a disabling shattered heel after falling out of his tree while trimming it at age 69 and much much more. I say all this to say I'm glad that even through all that daily pain he has stuck it out. I've gotten to spend many more years with him from when cancer first called. All my kids have gotten to know a rock of man and see first hand what courage in hard circumstances looks like. I commend each of you that has taken care of loved ones with terminal illness. While it is extremely difficult to watch, it does provide the opportunity to demonstrate selfless love to those you love. |
I hear ya Steve. It happens to every generation, but I have to say the boomer generation (to which I belong, as did Petty) for some reason thought it was the exception to the rule---a Peter Pan fantasy. While living in L.A., I met and became acquainted with, amongst other artists, Billy Swan (writer of the hit song "I Can Help"). He was a Southern boy, who told me about seeing Elvis live in ’56, performing on the back of a flatbed truck at a County Fair in Tennessee. What I would give to have witnessed that! I suddenly understood why the younger musicians I was meeting were so envious of my saving seen Hendrix, Cream, and The Who (with Keith Moon) live in the late 60’s. Everyone thinks of Rock Stars as living easy, cushy lives. But Petty was unusually fortunate---most artists of his type live in abject poverty their entire lives. I met and became acquainted with the guys in Dwight Twilley’s band, after drummer Phil Seymour left for a solo career. The Dwight Twilley Band’s debut album (Sincerely---a fantastic album) was partly responsible for Mudcrutch leaving Florida for L.A. in search of a record contract. Twilley hooked Petty up with Shelter Records and, as they say, the rest is history. Anyway, the guys in Twilley’s band were living on $150/wk each in 1979/80, which didn’t go far in L.A. (or anywhere else). THAT is the reality for most musicians. Dwight himself, at the time living with Susan Cowsill (yeah, those Cowsills), was doing only a little better than his band. He watched as his admirer Petty, for some reason, stole his thunder, enjoying a very successful career, while he languished in relative obscurity. On the other hand, Petty is dead, and Twilley lives on! |
So many deaths of singers, songwriters, musicians of my generation (b. 1957). I miss them all BUT I am so very thankful and grateful I got to live in, and listen to, and sometimes see them in their time. All have passed for a wide variety of reasons, some we may never fully understand, which is why having their music persist in recorded format keeps their energy and spirit alive. I didn’t know Tom personally, but in a way I did, albeit in a one way relationship.
We, who still listen, are lucky, so very lucky. |
Make that make that a cracked femur.
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It’s tough to beat opioids for severe pain.
I don’t know Tom Petty’s particular situation. Sounds like he suffered from emphysema- may mean that he’s been on high dose steroids, (prednisone?), long term, to aid his breathing-which in turn can induce osteoporosis. He always looked pretty slight of build and may not have started with a robust baseline bone density. I’ve heard that he was trying to soldier on and complete his tour with a cracked tibia that progressed to a full fracture. That would be damned painful. Also seems a little “out there” to continue, while I’m wildly speculating, maybe his judgement was impaired by the very meds he was using for pain. |
Tom Petty had access to the best medical care available unlike many people who do hard physical labor 5 or 6 days a week, every week, year after year. So he's not a victim of anything. We've all got to die and I'd rather die of an accidental overdose than something like cancer.
Last year 63,000 people died of drug overdoses. And that's with Narcan being available. The number would be in the hundreds of thousands if it wasn't available. The only way to stop this is to stop the easy availability of legal and illegal narcotics. |
Stick to cannabis and stay away from pills and white powder!
I am all for it, but I am not sure that cannabis is effective in the case of Tom Petty or Prince. The reason why I doubt is that these guys can have the very best pot whenever they want but they turn to opiods instead. Sad. |
I could write...(i did it my way...several times over and again. while caring for my dying father from kidney cancer)>>
Now, I'm dealing with my own issues....
WE all need the freedom to go in the way we want.
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@jmcgrogan2 While writing that post I was also thinking of athletic types like Mick, Pete Townshend, James Brown, Springsteen, even Meatloaf. And of Bob Dylan, who continues to tour, albeit in a sendentary position behind the keyboard. |
Yes, Jmc and bdp24, everyone is touched by tragedy in one way or another. I watched my sister pass from pancreatic cancer, it was the most inhumane thing I have ever experienced and I think about it everyday.
"I Did it My Way" might happen more often than we know.
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Exactly my thoughts, jmc. As a 14-15 year old, I watched in growing horror as my Mother was ravaged by brain cancer. I've lived my life with the knowledge of my (and everyone else's) imminent demise very much in mind, and now that I'm approaching the inevitable, considering whether or not I should choose the how and when. My sister, a long-recovered heroin addict, told me how she's going to do it should the need arise. The countries that have come to more, shall we say, liberal attitudes towards self-induced end-of-life seem so much more civilized than we, with our Puritan/Victorian superstitions. Keith Richards may end up being the Jerry Lee Lewis of his generation---the last man standing! |
When is an overdose not accidental?
When folks are ready to say "check please". I have watched many folks leave this spinning blue sphere, and some are more adapt at dealing with the suffering that comes towards the end then others are. My father passed away 4 months after being diagnosed with cancer, and several of my sisters whined that he didn't even 'try to fight it'. My mother took 10 years of battling emphysema before she finally passed away. In the end, they both wound up in the same place. Each person should have the right to end their own suffering, should they desire. I often wonder why we humans are more 'humane' to animals than we are to our own kind, as we allow animals to simply slip off to sleep when their lives become miserable, yet Kevorkian was a monster? HA! Personally, when the time comes for me, as it does for us all, I would hope to have the chance to set up a final listening session, settle down with a nice bottle of Blanton's single barrel bourbon and some pain/sleeping pills, and just transition quickly and peacefully. Watching my mother battle so hard for so long made me realize that was not the way that I would want to go out. Years of pain and agony is no way to "live". Yet with the advancements in medical science, we can keep many zombies 'alive' these days. To each their own. @dgarretson makes an interesting argument about the physical lifestyle of rock stars. Though that makes me wonder how Mick is feeling these days, as someone who has been VERY active for over 50 years of that lifestyle. Every time another one of these rockers fade away, I always find myself wondering how the hell Keith Richards is still alive???!!! |
At Petty’s age (same as mine), I assumed he was, like so many of us (though not me), just a pothead. But he had hurt his hip either just before or just as the tour was starting, and didn’t want to cancel. It was viewed as his Farewell Tour, and he decided to soldier on with the pain, using the opioids to get through it. It doesn’t take long to develop a nasty little habit. At least, that's what I've heard ;-). |
I'm very sad about Tom Petty. I'm also sad about the state of pain and addiction management in our country.
Prince had to reach outside of the state he lived in to get addiction care. It's quite likely he had inadequate pain management as well. As far as I can tell, he mixed pain meds with counterfeit drugs which had Fentanyl instead of what he thought was in them.
I won't judge Petty, but I will say that if well to do, not isolated, well liked people like Petty and Prince could run into problems with pain management, addiction and overall prescription management then imagine how difficult this might be for everyone else.
My point is just, I wish everyone in the US had better health care and on-demand access to excellent pain/prescription and addition management and I fear we are far from that.
Best,
E
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"rockstar lifestyle"...I rarely see a rock star who isn’t skinny.
I want, no, need to believe TP had issues that are common to us all. It may be just their access, means, lifestyle that separate us all.
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Petty never did much antics on stage if any at all. Blame the rockstar lifestyle if you will and a combination of issues with aging. Nevertheless it is tragic. I have seen him live many times and the last time with the Hypnotic Eye tour a few years ago - he did not look well at all at that time. Such a great talent and passion for song writing. His songs spoke to so many perhaps his single greatest talent was a profound insight into the human spirit and joy/pain of living. |
When others in their millions deify you , you come to believe, to some degree or another, you are beyond normal human limits .
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+1 dgarretson,
Couldn’t have said it better. Although, I believe Delores had some mental issues as well.
In the end, I believe if one is doing what they love, when they feel they can’t go on without help, they’ll turn to other things. I get it.
( remember Micheal Jackson...)
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In the case of Prince, decades of stage acrobatics took a toll on the body that mere mortals can’t imagine. Apparently this was the same for Dolores O’Riordan of the Cranberries. I never saw Petty live, but if his performing style was athletic, then at least part of the blame is on a demanding and aging rock audience that burdens its heroes with the price for eternal youth. |
Right pops, as it is no doubt a large source of income for them. |
Doctors have no trouble with the pen when it comes to prescribing drugs.
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Stick to cannabis and stay away from pills and white powder! |
I kind of hesitate to judge TP or Prince in these instances. (There is always personal responsibility.)
It seems that entertainer types, who have a completely different life than us mortals, who have the means, rely/should rely more on competent doctors to guide them. IMO, most of us would not have Fentanyl and some other RXs at our disposal. This assumes they were under the care of a dr. Some of the responsibility falls on them (the doctors) and the people around the patient.
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Agreed- no overdose is an accident? These people knew the consequences of taking rx or "street" drugs for whatever reason. I would be very curious to view the official drug screen/toxicology report. |
Update: It was opioids. Petty was suffering with a few physical problems---his knees were giving out, and he had just been told he had fractured his hip. He was self medicating with Fentanyl and the other common opes to relieve the physical pain, just like Prince. No one thinks it will happen to them. |
